Wednesday, October 14, 2009
20 is the new 10
When I got Molly up this morning she proceeded to count to 20 for me. Very little hesitation and just went straight through in correct order. That's my smart little cookie!
Monday, October 12, 2009
Happy 2nd Birthday!
Molly turns two today.
TWO.
Time flies indeed.
We got together with a few friends and family yesterday and headed up to the Arata Pumpkin Farm in Halfmoon Bay. The main draw for me was the hay bale maze, but I think the kids were still a little young to really enjoy it. However, Jamie (6 years old) thought it was AWESOME so we might have to return here for another birthday when the little ones are a few years older. Still, we got some GREAT pictures so I'd say it was worth the trek!
Molly carried around this cute little pumpkin all day, but we left it behind!
I also realized last night that we never gave her a taste of her own cupcake cake. We have a few cupcakes left so she will definitely be getting one today for lunch. Not that she's a huge fan of sweets, but still... the girl needs a little something on her big day!
Molly's latest obsession has been numbers and letters. She sees them EVERYWHERE and is constantly pointing them out. Some days she'll have a favorite (right now it's W and 8) and will says those regardless of what she's pointing at, but for the most part she gets them right. Getting through a parking lot can take a while because license plates are the. best. thing. ever! She has sung the alphabet song correctly up to H and can count to 10. She does know the entire alphabet song, but she tends to skip parts of it. She also sounds like a stuck record when she gets to W and it sounds something along the lines of, "dubba ewe ew ew ew ew eweeee", ad nauseam!
When we were in Kauai her favorite thing was to push the buttons of the elevator. We would ask for 3 (going down/upper pool level) or 4 (our floor) and then she would shake her hands and say, "No more!" (a learned behavior after she tried to press ALL the buttons).
We stayed at the Grand Hyatt Kauai and they have this very open lobby where they have live exotic birds during the day. Molly knew all of their names (Niele - Hyacinth Macaw, Rico - Green Winged Macaw, Duke - Blue and Gold Macaw, and Malie - Moluccan Cockatoo) and would say hello to them every time we passed by. There were also two bird cages out by the pool just outside our room. We could see Lilikoi (Yellow-crested Cockatoo) from our balcony. The other bird was named Sugar (White-crowned Parrot, seen below) and was located by the Captain's Bar.
My mom wanted to get her used to having the "Happy Birthday" song sung to her so she started in as soon as we got back from our trip only to be met with a "No singing" from Molly every single time she started in on the song. She continued this all day yesterday. She would also say she was 10 whenever anyone asked her how old she was. I know she's wise beyond her years, but I think 10 might be pushing it. ;-)
However, Molly is a total mimic these days and I've actually caught her singing along to songs on the radio or tv. She LOVES to dance and shakes her booty any chance she gets. She also has a GREAT imagination and can make a game out of the smallest thing. We have had a few instances of the "terrible twos", but these have mainly occurred when she is overly tired or hungry. For the most part she's a pretty laid back kid who goes with the flow. She has her moments of shyness (especially if she just woke up), but warms up pretty quick.
Molly is also really affectionate. She loves to snuggle in close to you on the couch while she watches Sesame Street. She also started to say "owie" a lot because she got kisses in return, but lately realized she can just ask for kisses instead. Every now and then she'll be running around and playing and will just stop and run over to you and squeeze your legs in a big ol' hug and then goes right back to whatever it was that she was doing. LOVE that!
A few weeks back at story time another little girl grabbed a book out of the hands of another younger boy (closer to 1 year than 2) which caused him to burst into tears. Well, Molly would have NONE of this and marched over to the little girl and took the book away from her and gave it back to the little boy so he would stop crying. Awww, warms a mother's heart.
TWO.
Time flies indeed.
We got together with a few friends and family yesterday and headed up to the Arata Pumpkin Farm in Halfmoon Bay. The main draw for me was the hay bale maze, but I think the kids were still a little young to really enjoy it. However, Jamie (6 years old) thought it was AWESOME so we might have to return here for another birthday when the little ones are a few years older. Still, we got some GREAT pictures so I'd say it was worth the trek!
Molly carried around this cute little pumpkin all day, but we left it behind!
I also realized last night that we never gave her a taste of her own cupcake cake. We have a few cupcakes left so she will definitely be getting one today for lunch. Not that she's a huge fan of sweets, but still... the girl needs a little something on her big day!
Molly's latest obsession has been numbers and letters. She sees them EVERYWHERE and is constantly pointing them out. Some days she'll have a favorite (right now it's W and 8) and will says those regardless of what she's pointing at, but for the most part she gets them right. Getting through a parking lot can take a while because license plates are the. best. thing. ever! She has sung the alphabet song correctly up to H and can count to 10. She does know the entire alphabet song, but she tends to skip parts of it. She also sounds like a stuck record when she gets to W and it sounds something along the lines of, "dubba ewe ew ew ew ew eweeee", ad nauseam!
When we were in Kauai her favorite thing was to push the buttons of the elevator. We would ask for 3 (going down/upper pool level) or 4 (our floor) and then she would shake her hands and say, "No more!" (a learned behavior after she tried to press ALL the buttons).
We stayed at the Grand Hyatt Kauai and they have this very open lobby where they have live exotic birds during the day. Molly knew all of their names (Niele - Hyacinth Macaw, Rico - Green Winged Macaw, Duke - Blue and Gold Macaw, and Malie - Moluccan Cockatoo) and would say hello to them every time we passed by. There were also two bird cages out by the pool just outside our room. We could see Lilikoi (Yellow-crested Cockatoo) from our balcony. The other bird was named Sugar (White-crowned Parrot, seen below) and was located by the Captain's Bar.
My mom wanted to get her used to having the "Happy Birthday" song sung to her so she started in as soon as we got back from our trip only to be met with a "No singing" from Molly every single time she started in on the song. She continued this all day yesterday. She would also say she was 10 whenever anyone asked her how old she was. I know she's wise beyond her years, but I think 10 might be pushing it. ;-)
However, Molly is a total mimic these days and I've actually caught her singing along to songs on the radio or tv. She LOVES to dance and shakes her booty any chance she gets. She also has a GREAT imagination and can make a game out of the smallest thing. We have had a few instances of the "terrible twos", but these have mainly occurred when she is overly tired or hungry. For the most part she's a pretty laid back kid who goes with the flow. She has her moments of shyness (especially if she just woke up), but warms up pretty quick.
Molly is also really affectionate. She loves to snuggle in close to you on the couch while she watches Sesame Street. She also started to say "owie" a lot because she got kisses in return, but lately realized she can just ask for kisses instead. Every now and then she'll be running around and playing and will just stop and run over to you and squeeze your legs in a big ol' hug and then goes right back to whatever it was that she was doing. LOVE that!
A few weeks back at story time another little girl grabbed a book out of the hands of another younger boy (closer to 1 year than 2) which caused him to burst into tears. Well, Molly would have NONE of this and marched over to the little girl and took the book away from her and gave it back to the little boy so he would stop crying. Awww, warms a mother's heart.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Kauai, week two
I forgot to mention in my last post that we went to a luau Friday night before Lucille and Jim left. It was at the Sheraton which is just up the street from the Hyatt. The entire hotel hugs the beach so we were sitting right on the water. Molly LOVED the dancers. She even bolted for the stage at one point. I think she wanted to join them. She was actually imitating the guy dancers more so than the girl ones. I think she liked how much they stomped their feet.
Sunday - N got up and headed out for two more boat dives while Molly and I hung back at the hotel. We hit the salt water lagoon for a bit and then headed back up to the room. N got back just as I was putting Molly down for nap time. He headed down to the pool and I stayed in the room for nap time. We hit Roy's that night for dinner. Molly had their "Kid's Tasting Menu" which was super cute. We eventually had to take turns going on walks with Molly as she got bored, but still had a great meal.
Monday - We headed up to north shore and hit the Na Pali coast for a hike. Molly was in the Deuter on N's back and I had the diaper bag back pack on mine. We made it about 3/4 of the way to the first beach. Once we hit a spot in the trail that was steep rock with a little stream coming down the rocks I made the call to turn back. It would have been tricky to climb up period, but there was no way I wanted N to attempt it with Molly on his back and he agreed. All in all it was about a 3 mile hike and we saw some gorgeous landscape. Afterwards we headed to Tropical Taco and grubbed down and then drove back to the hotel.
Tuesday - We got up and hit the breakfast buffet one last time and then went down to the lagoon for our last swim of the vacation. Molly fell asleep on the way to the airport and I didn't have the heart to wake her, but I should have. She slept through the car rental check in, flight check in, and agricultural check in. We woke her up to get through security and she didn't fall back asleep. So the flight was a little long.
All in all it was a FANTASTIC vacation. I can't wait to go back!
Sunday - N got up and headed out for two more boat dives while Molly and I hung back at the hotel. We hit the salt water lagoon for a bit and then headed back up to the room. N got back just as I was putting Molly down for nap time. He headed down to the pool and I stayed in the room for nap time. We hit Roy's that night for dinner. Molly had their "Kid's Tasting Menu" which was super cute. We eventually had to take turns going on walks with Molly as she got bored, but still had a great meal.
Monday - We headed up to north shore and hit the Na Pali coast for a hike. Molly was in the Deuter on N's back and I had the diaper bag back pack on mine. We made it about 3/4 of the way to the first beach. Once we hit a spot in the trail that was steep rock with a little stream coming down the rocks I made the call to turn back. It would have been tricky to climb up period, but there was no way I wanted N to attempt it with Molly on his back and he agreed. All in all it was about a 3 mile hike and we saw some gorgeous landscape. Afterwards we headed to Tropical Taco and grubbed down and then drove back to the hotel.
Tuesday - We got up and hit the breakfast buffet one last time and then went down to the lagoon for our last swim of the vacation. Molly fell asleep on the way to the airport and I didn't have the heart to wake her, but I should have. She slept through the car rental check in, flight check in, and agricultural check in. We woke her up to get through security and she didn't fall back asleep. So the flight was a little long.
All in all it was a FANTASTIC vacation. I can't wait to go back!
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Kauai, week one
Grandma Lucille and Papa J headed home this morning. Translation: our babysitter is gone! We all had a great week while they were here. Molly has pretty much lived in the salt water lagoon and "swimming?" is usually the first word out of her mouth in the morning. She has been getting up at 6:00 am pretty much every day since we've been here. N and I have been taking turns on who gets up and does the morning walk while the other sleeps in. So her night time sleep has been averaging about 10 hours (usually 11 at home), but her nap time has been averaging in at about 4 hours (usually 3 at home) so it's still the same amount of overall sleep, just slightly shifted. N and I have also been taking turns with who gets to camp out in the room during nap time. OK, let's see if I can remember everything we've done since we arrived.
Friday - Molly, N, and I landed first. Lucille and Jim were scheduled to land about an hour after us. We figured that would be enough time for us to get our luggage, get the rental car, and pack it up. Well, our stuff FILLED the trunk so N decided to drive Molly and I to the hotel and then turn around and head back to the airport while I checked in. Once we got all of our stuff to the rooms we immediately headed down to the lagoon and got to swimming. The best part of the lagoon is that it's a VERY shallow entry and there are NO waves. Molly can wander in at her leisure or just sit down and shovel sand into her bucket. The sand is also crushed up shells which can be a little rough on the tootsies, but unlike fine sand you'd find on a beach it does NOT get in your eyes. Score one for the lagoon!
Saturday - We headed down to the breakfast buffet and decided to head up to the East Shore and check out the Lydgate Beach Park. We first headed to the Kamalani Playground and the Kamalani Kai Bridge. It was this huge wooden structure with two slides. Molly and I climbed up to the top and crossed over the bridge so she could go down the less intimidating slide (the other one was super twisty and enclosed and VERY dark). She LOVED it. We headed out the beach, but the surf was up and after a few moments the wind caused sand to get in Molly's eyes and since her hands were already covered in sand it got a little tricky. We decided to check out the 'Opaeka'a Falls next. There are a LOT of roosters on this island and Molly immediately started to chase after them as soon as we got out of the car. I really wish I could have taped her imitating their cock-a-doodle-doo... it was priceless!
Sunday - We headed west this time and kept an eye out for a good breakfast place. When we saw a full parking lot we decided to turn around and take a look. We ended up at the Kalaheo Cafe & Coffee Co. and it was delicious! The only downside was that Molly had an epic meltdown. It was impressive. I think even the Russian judge would have given her a 10. So, nap time happened early that day. That night we left Molly with Grandma and Papa J and headed to our absolute favorite restuarant, Roy's. I got the surf n' turf and N did their tasting menu. Soooooooooo good.
Monday - This was the day Molly woke up at 5:00 am. This also happened to be my morning. Ugh. We did a lovely walk around the premises. Meandered down towards the beach and saw the sun come up. Molly LOVES to pick up all the plumeria flowers on the ground and hand them to me. If she finds a better one she'll swap that out with whatever flower I'm holding making sure we both have one in each hand. It's super cute. We then went back up to the room and changed into our bathing suits and were in the pool before 7:00. Heh. Yeah, that's a first. After the breakfast buffet I could barely keep my eyes open so I went back to the room to shut down while everyone else went back down to the pool. By the time I woke up N had booked us for shore dives, boat dives, and ziplining. Score!
Tuesday - This was the day of the tsunami warning and our afternoon shore dives were canceled. Of course the warning was lifted shortly therafter, but we had already rescheduled. I stayed behind with Molly while N, Lucille, and Jim headed up to north shore to do a river kayak trip. They were all plenty tired by the time they got back to the hotel.
Wednesday - We ziplined. It was awesome! The place we went to was Kauai Backcountry Adventures and they were great. The land we were on used to be part of an old sugar plantation that shut down. When the land went up for auction Steve Case purchased the 22,000 acres. It was nice to see a new part of the island. N took pics and video. To be uploaded soon.
Thursday - Once again we left Molly behind with Grandma and Papa J (gotta love relatives) and headed out for two shore dives at Koloa Landing. The last time I dove was our Australia trip all the way back in 2005. The last time N dove was a year later when he did a boat trip down by the Channel Islands. I'm very happy we did two shore dives as our first dives back. It was nice to get back into the swing of things at a calm site with a smooth entry.
Friday - However, I MUCH prefer boat dives which is what we did next. The red flags have been out since we arrived so it was a little rough when we headed out. We were on a small boat with 8 divers total plus the captain. Our first dive spot was called Turtle Landing. We saw a few turtles and quite a few white tip reef sharks hanging out under some of the rocks in little caves. The second dive spot was called Sheraton Caverns and there were 4 different turtles hanging out on the surface to greet us. We actually saw more turtles at this location and that was fine with me. I hung out and took pics of all the cool turtles while the rest of the guys squeezed their way through some "tight" and "dark" tunnels. Not my cup o' tea. It was so great to be back in the (warm) water. We must not let it go so long before our next dive.
Saturday - Today we dropped off Grandma and Papa J at the airport. When we got back to the hotel I called the spa and booked a luxurious facial and massage. (Spa tip of the day - chamomile tea bags, cooled with ice water, are an excellent compress and will help hydrate dry skin) N is going to do another dive trip tomorrow and we plan to hike the Na Pali coast on Monday.
Friday - Molly, N, and I landed first. Lucille and Jim were scheduled to land about an hour after us. We figured that would be enough time for us to get our luggage, get the rental car, and pack it up. Well, our stuff FILLED the trunk so N decided to drive Molly and I to the hotel and then turn around and head back to the airport while I checked in. Once we got all of our stuff to the rooms we immediately headed down to the lagoon and got to swimming. The best part of the lagoon is that it's a VERY shallow entry and there are NO waves. Molly can wander in at her leisure or just sit down and shovel sand into her bucket. The sand is also crushed up shells which can be a little rough on the tootsies, but unlike fine sand you'd find on a beach it does NOT get in your eyes. Score one for the lagoon!
Saturday - We headed down to the breakfast buffet and decided to head up to the East Shore and check out the Lydgate Beach Park. We first headed to the Kamalani Playground and the Kamalani Kai Bridge. It was this huge wooden structure with two slides. Molly and I climbed up to the top and crossed over the bridge so she could go down the less intimidating slide (the other one was super twisty and enclosed and VERY dark). She LOVED it. We headed out the beach, but the surf was up and after a few moments the wind caused sand to get in Molly's eyes and since her hands were already covered in sand it got a little tricky. We decided to check out the 'Opaeka'a Falls next. There are a LOT of roosters on this island and Molly immediately started to chase after them as soon as we got out of the car. I really wish I could have taped her imitating their cock-a-doodle-doo... it was priceless!
Sunday - We headed west this time and kept an eye out for a good breakfast place. When we saw a full parking lot we decided to turn around and take a look. We ended up at the Kalaheo Cafe & Coffee Co. and it was delicious! The only downside was that Molly had an epic meltdown. It was impressive. I think even the Russian judge would have given her a 10. So, nap time happened early that day. That night we left Molly with Grandma and Papa J and headed to our absolute favorite restuarant, Roy's. I got the surf n' turf and N did their tasting menu. Soooooooooo good.
Monday - This was the day Molly woke up at 5:00 am. This also happened to be my morning. Ugh. We did a lovely walk around the premises. Meandered down towards the beach and saw the sun come up. Molly LOVES to pick up all the plumeria flowers on the ground and hand them to me. If she finds a better one she'll swap that out with whatever flower I'm holding making sure we both have one in each hand. It's super cute. We then went back up to the room and changed into our bathing suits and were in the pool before 7:00. Heh. Yeah, that's a first. After the breakfast buffet I could barely keep my eyes open so I went back to the room to shut down while everyone else went back down to the pool. By the time I woke up N had booked us for shore dives, boat dives, and ziplining. Score!
Tuesday - This was the day of the tsunami warning and our afternoon shore dives were canceled. Of course the warning was lifted shortly therafter, but we had already rescheduled. I stayed behind with Molly while N, Lucille, and Jim headed up to north shore to do a river kayak trip. They were all plenty tired by the time they got back to the hotel.
Wednesday - We ziplined. It was awesome! The place we went to was Kauai Backcountry Adventures and they were great. The land we were on used to be part of an old sugar plantation that shut down. When the land went up for auction Steve Case purchased the 22,000 acres. It was nice to see a new part of the island. N took pics and video. To be uploaded soon.
Thursday - Once again we left Molly behind with Grandma and Papa J (gotta love relatives) and headed out for two shore dives at Koloa Landing. The last time I dove was our Australia trip all the way back in 2005. The last time N dove was a year later when he did a boat trip down by the Channel Islands. I'm very happy we did two shore dives as our first dives back. It was nice to get back into the swing of things at a calm site with a smooth entry.
Friday - However, I MUCH prefer boat dives which is what we did next. The red flags have been out since we arrived so it was a little rough when we headed out. We were on a small boat with 8 divers total plus the captain. Our first dive spot was called Turtle Landing. We saw a few turtles and quite a few white tip reef sharks hanging out under some of the rocks in little caves. The second dive spot was called Sheraton Caverns and there were 4 different turtles hanging out on the surface to greet us. We actually saw more turtles at this location and that was fine with me. I hung out and took pics of all the cool turtles while the rest of the guys squeezed their way through some "tight" and "dark" tunnels. Not my cup o' tea. It was so great to be back in the (warm) water. We must not let it go so long before our next dive.
Saturday - Today we dropped off Grandma and Papa J at the airport. When we got back to the hotel I called the spa and booked a luxurious facial and massage. (Spa tip of the day - chamomile tea bags, cooled with ice water, are an excellent compress and will help hydrate dry skin) N is going to do another dive trip tomorrow and we plan to hike the Na Pali coast on Monday.
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